3 ms·

What they mean is that when the Zeolite is "heated", then it can be stored indefinitely without "cooling down". If you heat water and put it in a tank, it will

What they mean is that when the Zeolite is "heated", then it can be stored indefinitely without "cooling down". If you heat water and put it in a tank, it will lose its heat relatively quickly. The Zeolite stores the energy from heat in (stable) chemical bonds, so it won't lose energy over time.

samstave 14y ago
Can you give me some examples of how this can be used?
- julian37 14y ago
  The article gives one example: you could charge them with waste heat at plants and factories, then transport them to homes and offices where (I suppose) they could be used for heating and hot water, at some later point in time. Sounds more efficient than teleheating via insulated pipes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating
  - rsanchez1 14y ago
    This is a great application. It could be particularly useful in the New England states. Manufacturing could store their waste heat in the zeolite, and resell it to homes and businesses who can use it to heat up during the winter. It could be a major disruption to utility companies.
    - ramchip 14y ago
      Considering the transport cost and equipment needed, I'm not convinced that would be economically viable...
- mtmcannon 14y ago
  You can heat Zeolite using solar power during the day and release the energy at night. Current thermal energy storage techniques use stuff like molten salt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_energy_storage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_energy_storage), which is a lot harder to work with than pellets.
  - deelowe 14y ago
    Yeah, but once you do that, how do you get the water back out? It sounds like this stuff doesn't do that very easily.
    - phn 14y ago
      From what I understood, the water comes out when you heat it.
- JoeAltmaier 14y ago
  Water heater in your home. Deliver heat when needed by pouring water on stones, comes out hot. Doesn't have to keep water hot and ready; so probably save 90% of the energy currently leaked away due to Newton cooling (hot water heater cooling off all day while you're at work).

samstave 14y ago

Can you give me some examples of how this can be used?

julian37 14y ago
The article gives one example: you could charge them with waste heat at plants and factories, then transport them to homes and offices where (I suppose) they could be used for heating and hot water, at some later point in time. Sounds more efficient than teleheating via insulated pipes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating
- rsanchez1 14y ago
  This is a great application. It could be particularly useful in the New England states. Manufacturing could store their waste heat in the zeolite, and resell it to homes and businesses who can use it to heat up during the winter. It could be a major disruption to utility companies.
  - ramchip 14y ago
    Considering the transport cost and equipment needed, I'm not convinced that would be economically viable...
mtmcannon 14y ago
You can heat Zeolite using solar power during the day and release the energy at night. Current thermal energy storage techniques use stuff like molten salt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_energy_storage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_energy_storage), which is a lot harder to work with than pellets.
- deelowe 14y ago
  Yeah, but once you do that, how do you get the water back out? It sounds like this stuff doesn't do that very easily.
  - phn 14y ago
    From what I understood, the water comes out when you heat it.
JoeAltmaier 14y ago
Water heater in your home. Deliver heat when needed by pouring water on stones, comes out hot. Doesn't have to keep water hot and ready; so probably save 90% of the energy currently leaked away due to Newton cooling (hot water heater cooling off all day while you're at work).